Stephen Spotswood

Correspondent at U.S. Medicine

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Articles

VA Plans to Phase Out Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Veterans

2 weeks ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — VA has announced that it will be phasing out gender-affirming care for veterans. This is being done, officials said, in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14168, which excludes transgender people from the government’s definition of gender.
Congressional VA Committee Members Seek to Mitigate Staff Cuts

2 weeks ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — The Trump administration’s plan to cut approximately 80,000 employees from VA is receiving pushback from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. In addition, a judge has ordered the reinstatement of thousands of probationary federal employees who were summarily fired in February, including 2,400 from VA. It remained unclear whether the ruling will result in those employees being rehired, as the administration has delayed responding to similar rulings in recent days.
Military Surgeons Raise Alarm About Combat-Casualty Readiness

2 weeks ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — The current state of combat-casualty readiness in the military health system has degraded to the point where the country is unprepared to care for the casualties that would result from a major conflict, experts told Congress last month. “If we maintain the status quo and enter a pure conflict unprepared, we will condemn thousands of war-fighters to death,” testified Jeremy Cannon, MD, USAF (Ret), professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.
VA Committee Hears About Challenges Getting Community Mental Healthcare

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — The Republican focus on further expanding VA-funded community care has been fueled, in part, by reports from veterans and service organizations detailing the hurdles they have had to go through to obtain care for themselves or their clients. Many of those stories center on a failure to receive substance abuse and mental healthcare, the successful completion of which can be heavily dependent on timely access. “I sought mental healthcare through the VA.
Deputy VA Secretary Nominees Faces Hard Questions on Firings

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — At his confirmation hearing, President Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy VA secretary, Paul Lawrence, PhD, promised he would look into recent firings at VA but said that he had not been privy to recent internal department decisions and that he believed what had been stated in VA press releases—that the layoffs were done with consideration for veterans and did not affect mission-critical personnel.
More than 1,000 Firings at VA Are Just the Beginning of ‘Generational Change’

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump began his second term with a flurry of executive orders that have resulted in the firing of thousands of employees, including many at VA, with the promise of deeper cuts to come. Now, a leaked memo has revealed that the department is being directed to return to 2019 staffing numbers—an effective cut of 80,000 employees. Despite assurances that VA care and benefits would be unaffected, there have been reports of facilities losing essential staff.
Legislators Push for Better Oversight of VA Community Care Providers

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — As promised, the new Republican-led Congress began the legislative year by focusing heavily on community care in VA, with a glut of hearings targeting different aspects of the issue. While the message from Republicans was that “community care is VA care” and access needs to be expanded, Democrats maintained that the expansion comes at the expense of direct care, the quality of which can be guaranteed in a way that care in the community cannot.
GOP Legislators Push Bill to Expedite Firing Authority for VA Employees

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — Republican legislators are again seeking to provide the VA secretary with expedited firing authority for VA employees that are deemed “bad actors.” According to the bill’s proponents, this is necessary to give VA leaders the power to hold poor-performing employees accountable.
Martin Focuses on Improving Sleep-Disorder Treatment for Veterans

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

LOS ANGELES — We spend approximately one-third of our lives asleep, but it’s only been in the last couple of decades that the medical community has begun to understand in detail just how important sleep can be to our lives. It cannot only make your day seem sluggish and dull but can worsen existing chronic health conditions and increase the risk of developing others.
VA Urged to Avoid Large Monolithic IT Projects, Use a More Modular Approach

2 months ago | usmedicine.com | Stephen Spotswood

WASHINGTON, DC — Legislators, agency watchdogs and VA leaders are in agreement: The department must stop investing in massive, multiyear IT projects whose intention is to solve a technology need in one fell swoop. Rather, VA needs to address those needs with modular projects that can deliver incremental results swiftly and regularly. “The scale of the IT systems are massive and presents a lot of challenges,” explained Rep.